Crane



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

f H. AIKEN.

CRANE. No. 455,650. Patented July?,` 1891.

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Patented July 7, 1891.

' CRANE.

H. AIKEN.

(No Model.)

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wl'rNEssE A A UNiTED STATES PATENT EEICE.

HENRY AIKEN, oF PiTT'sBURe, PENNSYLVANIA.

CRANE.y

SPECIFICATION forming par@ of Letters Patent No. 455,650,01ated July 7,1.891.

Application filed January 13, 1890. vSerial No. 336.789. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY AIKEN, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new andusefullmprov'ement in Cranes, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a sideelevation, partly in vertical section, ofv my improved crane andingot-extracting device, the latter being shown in section on the line II of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the jib of the crane onthe line II II of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the mast of thecrane, the jib being shown in section on the line III III of Fig. Vl.

mast, showing in vertical section the top steadiment and thewater-connections. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the Water-connections,partly in section, on the line V V of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a plan view insection on the line VI VI of Fig. 5.

Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each.

In the drawings, 2 represents the usual crane-cylinder, which ispreferably stationary, and is provided at the base with a snitablewater-inlet 3.

4 is a plunger, which is arranged to move vertically and to rotateaxially within the cyl inder, and which supports and carries ahorizontally-projecting jib 5.

The mast of the crane consists of beams 6, arranged vertically onopposite sides of the cylinder Vand secured at the base to a rotatoryblock or foot 7, and at the top secured to a top block or casting 8,having a contracted portion or journal lit-ting within an annularbearing 9 in the Jfop steadiment l0. As shown in Fig. 4, the inner endof the jib extends between the beams of the mast and encircles anupright bar or pipe 4,which projects froin the plunger, and' has at itsupper` end wheels ll, which bear against the mast and guide the plungerand jib in their vertical motions. The jib is also provided withguide-wl1eels l2, which bear against the opposite side of the mast.

FU. 4 is an enlarged view of the upper part of tlise The crane as I havedescribed it above is not claimed by nie specifically7 herein,and forthe purposes ot' the invention covered in this specification craneshaving parts diiierently constructed may be employed.

Thejib is provided with a sliding` carriage 13, which is connected tothe plunger 14 of'a hydraulic cylinder l5, so that by projecting andretracting the plunger the carriage may be caused to inovelongitudinally on the jib.

16 is a hydraulic cylinder fixed to the carriage 13 and extendingdownwardly between thebeams of which the jib is composed.

17 is a plunger, which project-s from the lower end of the last-namedcylinder, and 18' and l) are the water-inlets, through which waterV maybe admitted to said cylinder to move the plunger vertically in either`direction.

2O are suspending-chains, which depend from the carriage l3,and whichare provided with hooks or other devices by which they -may be attachedto an ingot-mold, as shown in Fig. l.

I shall now describe the operation of this part of the apparatus inextracting ingots from the molds in which they are cast. The mold, withthe contained ingot, is placed in an upright position on a buggy 2l, andis then carried thereon within the sweep of lthe jib of the crane; orthe mold may be set on the buggybeforethe ingot is castwithin it. craneis then turned by any suitablemeans, (it may be by a toothed rack actingupon the spur-wheel 22 at the bottom of the crane-mast,) so as to bringthe j ib directly above the mold, and thecarriage 13 is moved along thejib by means of the cylinder 15, so as to bring the plunger of thecylinder 16 directly above the center of the ingot. The chains 2O arethen attached to the usual lugs on the ingotmold, water is admitted intothe upper end of the cylinder 16, so as to force its plunger down uponthe ingot, and Water is admitted into the crane-cylinder 2, so as toraise the jib. There is thereby exerted a downward pressure upon theingot and a lifting force on the mold,l the effect of which opposingforces is to raise the mold and to stri p. it from the ingot, leaving.the latter standing on the The IOO

- or box 24.

buggy. `When the mold is lifted above the top of the ingot, the plunger17 is raised, and the buggy vcarrying the ingot may be drawn away,leaving the mold suspended, to be removed by another buggy orby anyother means; or the buggy, with the ingot, may be moved fowardalittle,and Ithe mold then lowered upon the same buggy at the back ofthe ingot.

I do not claim herein the ingot-extracting device before described,since I have made it the subject of a separate patent application filedon October 1, 1890, Serial No. 366,717.

I shall now describe the water-connections by which motive fluid issupplied to the cylinder on the jib. There are four of these waterconnections to be made, and I have shown the parts of the apparatusconstructed to suit this number; but it will be understood that when myimproved devices are applied to apparatus requiring a greater number ofconnections it will need modifications, such as will be made apparent bythe following` description: 23 is a vertical pipe, which extends throughand above ahole made for its reception in the top block 8 of thecrane-mast, and at its base is provided with a projecting foot This pipeis divided `vertically into four separate channels, and the foot 24 isalso made in four compartments, which communicate respectively with thechannels in the pipe. As the pipe passes through the middle of thejournal of the crane-mast, it is iotatory axiallytherewith.

To provide for the admission of water into the channels in the pipe 23,I form in the pipe holes l), one for each of the channels, and aroundthe pipe over the holes I place `sleeves or boxes 26, having annularchannels, which extend around the pipe directly outside the position ofthe holes and are limited by annular anges c, fitting as closely to thepipes as possible. The sleeves are preferably made separate from eachother, and each is or may be formed with an annular portion, whichextends longitudinally beyond the fianges c, leaving on the outer sidesof the flanges annular spaces adpated to perform the function ofstuffing-boxes. The glands or followers of these stuffing-boxes arepreferably formed as follows: Between the several collars 26 are tubularsections 27, which fit around the pipe 23, and are of such thickness asto be adapted to enter the annular stuffing-boxes at the adjacent endsof the sleeves, between which they are placed. At the outer ends of theupper and lower sleeves of the series are separate glands or followers28, and by tightening these the intermediate glands 27 may be caused toenter their stuffing-boxes and to close tightly the joints. Each of thesleeves is provided with a water-pipe connection 29, and as theseconnections communicate with the annular channels in the sleeves, andthe latter communicate with their respective holes b, each waterpipe isput into direct connection with one of the channels into the pipe 23.The sleeves 26 are stationary, and the pipe 23 Vis axially rotatory withthe crane-mast within them; but by reason of the annular form of thewaterpassages in the sleeves the channels in the pipe are continually incommunication with their sources of 'water supply or exhaust. 30 is abox or casting, which is set on the jib, and is provided with fourupright passages or channels, as shown in Fig. 5. The compartments ofthe box 24 are severally provided with downwardly-extending pipes 31',which pass, respectively, through stuffingboxes 32 into the severalchannels in the box 30, so that as the jib is moved verticallyrelatively to the mast the box 30 may move with the jib and may slidetelescopically over the pipes 31 without interrupting the freecommunication between the several channels in the box 30 and thecorresponding channels in the box 24. (If desired,the parts maybereversed, the box bein secured to the mast and the pipes mounted on thejib.) From two of the channels in the box 30 pipes 33 and 34 pass to theends of the cylinder 15 on the jib. The other two channels serve aspassages for water to supply the cylinder 16; but as said cylinder has alongitudinal travel on thuej ib its waterconnections must be such as topermit such travel without interruption of the supply. To

this end I secure to the-under side of the jib a hollow box 35, formedwith two channels, as shown in Fig. 2, and into each of said channels,through a stuffing-box 36, I extend one of the water-pipes 37 38 of' thecylinder 16. The construction in this regard is substantially the samein principle as that shown in Fig. 5 with reference to the box 30 andpipes 31, and the result is that as the cylinder, with its carriage 13,is moved longitudinally on the jib the pipes 37 and 38 will slidetelescopically through the stufling-boxes 36 without interrupting thefree communication between said pipes and their respective channels inthe box 35. pipes 39 and 40 with the proper channels in the box 30, soas to establish communication between the supply-pipes 29 and the portsof the cylinder 16. It will thus be seen that the jib of the crane maybe moved vertically and its carriage 13 moved horizontally within thedesired limits without interruption of the water-supply, and as thecontrolling-valves may be placed anywhere on the supply-pipes withineasy reach of the operator a most efficient and simple arrangement forthe operation and control of the apparatus is provided. The advantage ofthis part of my improvement is its simplicity and compactness ofconstruction, the small number of joints rcquired to be made, and thecapability it affords of dispensing with flexible Water-pipes andsimilar inconvenient appliances.

It will be understood that I do not limit the claims relating to thesewater-connections to their use with the precise apparatus on thecrane-jib which I have shown, since they may IOO IOS

IIO

Said channels are connected by.

IIS

and the sleeves 26 to remain stationary, this may be reversed, thesleeves being connected with the mast and with the pipes 3l and arrangedto rotate therewith, -while the pipe 23 is inverted and fixed, theWater-supply pipes entering directly the channels in the same.

I claim-d.

l. The combination, in a crane, of a rotatory mast, a vertically-movablej ib, a motor cylinder or cylinders, a series of upright parallel pipessupported by the mast, and a second series'of pipes carried in uprightposition by' the jib tting axially the first-named series andadapted tomove telescopically relatively thereto, the first of said series ofpipes havi ing connection with a fluid-supply leading to `thecrane andthe second being connected with said motor cylinder or cylinders,whereby connectionof said motors with the fluidsupply is maintained inevery position of the j ib, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

2." InA a crane having a rotary mast, the combination, with thecrane-motors, of a s eries of water passages or wayssituate'in the axisof the mast-journal and having ports at different levels, collarshaving` water-channels encircling said ports and preserving constantcommunication with the respective waterfpassages, and pipes leading fromsaid water-passages to the crane-motors, substantially as and thepurposes described.

3. The combination', with the rotary Ina-st, of a pipe divided into twoor more channels encircling boxes or sleeves, and lateral holesorpassages connecting the Vpassages in the sleeves with the respectivechannels in the pipes, substantially as and for the purposes described.`v

4. The combination, with the rotary mast,

For example, instead of arf` ranging the pipe'23 to rotate with the mastfao y encircling boxes or sleeves, and interposed followers orglands bywhich the joints between the sleeves and the pipe are packed,substantially as and for the -purposes described.

5, The combination, With-the rotary mast, of a pipe divided into two ormore channels encircling boxes or sleeves, interposed followers orglands by which the joints between the sleeves and the pipe are'packed,and end followers or glands, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed. f

G. The combination, withV a rotary mast having a series of longitudinalpassages or water-ways through its journal with peripheral ports atdifferent points, of a series of encircling collars having annularwater-ways which preserve constant communication with the respectivewater-ways of the journal,sub stantially as and for the purposesspecified.

7; The combination, with the rotary mast, of a pipe divided into two ormore channels' encircling boxes or sleeves, holes or passages connectingthe passages in the sleeves with the respective channels in the pipes, ajib, and hollow telescopically-sliding channels or pipes connecting thechannels in said pipe with a cylinder or cylinders on the jib, sub-vstantially as and' for the purposes described.

8. The combination, with the rotary mast, of a pipe divided into two'ormore channels encircling boxes or sleeves, holes'or passages connectingthe passages inthe sleeves with the respective channels inthe pipes, afoot 24, connected with said pipe andl having coinpartmentscommunicating withrthe channels thereof, a jib, and'hollowtelescopically-sliding channels or pipes connecting the compartf mentsof'sai'd foot with a cylinder or cylindersl on the jib, substantiallyas'and for vthe purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 6th day ofJanuary, A. 1890.

HENRY AMEN.

Witnesses:

YV. B. CORWIN, JNo. K. SMITH.

